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May 2011

May 29, 2011

Nope – that isn't a Highland Games in the best weather Stornoway has ever seen. It's the world's northernmost Highland Games in a tiny Arctic village called Snefjord in Finnmark which has been holding the event since 2006. Just like classic Highland Games in Scotland the Snefjord event has become a part of local tradition and involves feats of strength and agility from heavyweights around Europe.

It's all the product of friendships and coincidences – but it is a serious professional Games. Snefjord (pop 50 people plus 5000 reindeer in summer) do all the classic heavyweight events including tossing the caber and have become one of few Highland Games across Europe whose winners advance to the most important trophies and competitions. They have some unusual features – instead of Highland dancing they have Sami dancing. And because of the endless daylight at this time of year they have a Midnight start to their "weight over the bar" event.

Anyway Snefjord are looking for heavyweight competitors and some pipers willing to tour neighbouring villages between July 13-17th to drum up trade.

I'm going to cover the event – it sounds absolutely barking but fun. If any heavyweight competitors or pipers are free (and I know it's a busy time to be away in the Arctic) contact Snefjord organiser Trond Egil Nilsen [circussnefjord889@gmail.com] and check out the website www.circussnefjord889.com

May 23, 2011

In this week's podcast, Lesley is very cautious as she reveals nothing more than her opinions about superinjunctions and the folly therein. She also talks through some of the issues behind her Scotsman column about rape. This is an adult theme and you may not want to play this podcast in the car on the school run. The topic is treated seriously, sensitively but there are some hard truths which may sit better with a mature audience. Finally, the Windsor family went to Ireland and things seem to have gone well.

In this week's podcast, Lesley is very cautious as she reveals nothing more than her opinions about superinjunctions and the folly therein. She also talks through some of the issues behind her Scotsman column about rape. This is an adult theme and you may not want to play this in the car on the school run. The topic is treated seriously, sensitively but there are some hard truths which may sit better with a mature audience. Finally, the Windsor family went to Ireland, see what I did there ?

May 18, 2011

I was in Holyrood today for Alex Salmond's very impressive speech as "new" First Minister. Guardian & Reuters correspondents were up from London specially. Nice to know Scotland has arrived – again. Afterwards the Garden Lobby coffee bar was so full of new Nat MSPs Labour and the Lib Dems retreated to have tea and biccies elsewhere. It's strange sitting up on the press gallery and seeing entire long rows of completely unfamiliar faces. Alex now has 6 "improvements" to the Scotland Bill. The first 3 we know about – the right to control Corporation tax, crown estate income and borrowing powers. The new 3 are –

Excise tax controlled north of the border so the minimum alcohol price regime the SNP will re-introduce won't just give supermarkets extra income.

Broadcasting control – Alex wants to bring on the proposed Scottish digital network

Europe – he wants a guarantee that Scots ministers will speak for the UK on matters that affect us most.

This is pretty smart stuff from Alex because the three new demands are proposals or resolve problems raised by the opposition parties. I was left thinking about a comment by the Grauniad's Michael White who also picked up on Alex's gracious reply to Iain Gray's speech congratulating him on election as First Minister. Since he's collected his jotters Iain Gray has been a man transformed. He sounds relaxed, he has lost that slight facial tic he'd developed – I think he is mightily relieved not to be in a job he plainly didn't want. Anyway, Iain made a constructive and generous speech to which Alex replied that he too had been in the doldrums after Donald Dewar's victory in 1999 and knew how that felt. As Michael White said afterwards, the key thing is not having a defeat but learning from a defeat. Life might have been very different if Gordon Brown had understood that.

May 17, 2011

Calling all teachers. It seems the Scottish Government is to commission Glow Mark 2 this year. Is that the best use of ever dwindling education cash? I can see new classroom materials are needed to supply the CfE but is clunky Glow2 or free Facebook Groups the best way forward?

Once we have a new Education Secretary I can check on his/her plans! But meantime I wonder if I can use social media to find out what ordinary web-savvy teachers think (not just on message e-learning coordinators!!) before I write something to coincide with LTS and HmiE merging on July 1st.

Has Glow improved since I wrote this critical Scotsman column last year http://news.scotsman.com/education/-Glow-reached-for-the.5970390.jp ? Are cloud systems better? Do you use Facebook to share stuff with other teachers because of copyright issues on Glow? What's the best way to share material and create great lessons in class? Can non-teaching readers pass this on to the right people please? Ive also used my first hashtag thingy on twitter #glow2 to let people find this debate and have put the same request on my Facebook page.

Interesting and sad to see there are problems with the cladding panels of the Scottish parliament.

The restaurant and bar used by MSPs was closed yesterday after a 100lb block became dislodged between the third and fourth floors of the ministerial tower, where Alex Salmond and his colleagues have offices

Tempting to say – we told you so. A Feisty investigation for BBC Scotland in 2006 used thermal imaging cameras to show the heat loss around panels above the public entrance of the parliament. (above)

The red and white areas show where heat is escaping. By contrast the civil service HQ at Victoria Quay has excellent insulation – in 2006 the only red patches of heat loss are at the doors.

I let the parliament know – they had no response back then other than to say the building was green and eco-friendly.

According to Stewart Little, Director of IRT, the Dundee-based company who did the thermal images for us in 2006;

"The white flares could be showing heat loss. But they could also mean water is gathering behind the panels, which if untackled could cause damage."

And this was five years ago. If we had the cash to redo that survey I wonder what we'd find now?

This is significant – not just because it's another reason to kick the poor old Holyrood building, (and of course our thermal image doesn't show the same facade as the one which housed the problem slab) But because poor building standards and poor insulation are costing millions in heat loss and dampness and – more importantly – hyperthermia still costs the lives of elderly people right across Scotland.

May 15, 2011

After the recent football 'troubles', we get stuck into football for the final time ( this season ). Lesley also sent some time being interviewed by the TV and has a tale or two to tell. So, if it's opinionated craic you're after then you've come to the right place. Oh, and it's an Eurovision- free podcast as well.

May 12, 2011

We had a brilliant time on Colonsay – Scotland's best kept secret. It was the first ever Spring Festival in early May and coincided with the best spring weather I can ever recall in Scotland. We cycled everywhere – even got up at 4am on Beltane and climbed a hill to see the sun rise over Jura with all the old signal points on other summits lit up with beacons. And came back with a tan – just like being in the Med in your own country. Chris has matched pictures with some audio chat to create... the Colonsay Rap. Huv a shufty and see wit ye think.

May 10, 2011

"The world in 2050 will be radically different from today. Northern countries - notably Canada, Russia and Scandinavia - will rise at the expense of southern ones."

So says Laurence Smith whose book "The New North" has been a bestseller.

Nordic Horizons invites you to hear more about the reality of change in the Arctic with Rune Rafaelson, General Secretary of the Kirkenes-based Barents Secretariat. The Arctic contains fish stocks, breeding grounds & huge supplies of oil and gas. Can the Norwegian government exploit them without harming the environment. Rune outlines Norway's ambitious plans to develop people, assets and energy in the High North with loads of projects to connect with neighbouring Russians and create a new dynamic cross border Arctic region. His vision for the Arctic contrasts with Scotland's weary acceptance of inevitable decline in our own remote areas. But recent oil finds north of Hammerfest and the opening of a new North-East passage for shipping (due to global warming) create an eco-challenge for the Norwegian govt. If anything goes wrong, nature and fish stocks for the world could be decimated. Can Norway develop the world's last wilderness safely?

For more info see http://www.barents.no

Tickets are free but must be booked when the Festival programme comes out.